Rebuilding History, Ground Up

Art Exhibit Showcases City’s Urban Renewal

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Posted: February 15, 2014

By PRESTON KNIGHT

David Ehrenpreis, director of the James Madison University Institute for Visual Studies, examines a display at the institute’s new exhibit in Roop Hall, “What Was Lost: Urban Renewal in 1960s Harrisonburg,” a collection of documentary photographs of family homes and commercial properties that were destroyed in urban renewal projects in northeast Harrisonburg. (Photos by Michael Reilly)

David Ehrenpreis, director of the JMU Institute for Visual Studies, and 2013 graduate Jessica Strawn have organized “What Was Lost: Urban Renewal in 1960s Harrisonburg,” an exhibit examining the social, racial and political implications of what’s known as the R-16 project in Harrisonburg.

David Ehrenpreis, director of the JMU Institute for Visual Studies, and 2013 graduate Jessica Strawn have organized “What Was Lost: Urban Renewal in 1960s Harrisonburg,” an exhibit examining the social, racial and political implications of what’s known as the R-16 project in Harrisonburg.

David Ehrenpreis, director of the JMU Institute for Visual Studies, discusses the institute’s new exhibit in Roop Hall, “What Was Lost: Urban Renewal in 1960s Harrisonburg,” a collection of documentary photographs of family homes and commercial properties that were destroyed in northeast Harrisonburg.

Comparison photos of the present city parking deck at the corner of East Elizabeth Street and Federal Street and the home that was torn down on the corner as part of the R-16 urban renewal.